Really, Facebook? THAT'S what you think I'd be interested in?
I'm not spending as much time as I used to on social media, but I do log on occasionally to ask questions and/or promote things I have coming up (like a walking tour (and, as an aside, thanks Mining Journal for the front page coverage last Friday!)). As I was scrolling through a few things after posting a picture following last week's tour, I was dumbfounded on a "suggested like" the site was aiming at me.
"Suggested likes" are pages or personalities Facebook's algorithm thinks you may enjoy, based on what it thinks it knows about you. It bases the information on what you already like, the items with which you most interact, and whatever else its data mining can discover about you.
And that's why I'm dumbfounded that Facebook thinks I might want to follow the Hooters restaurant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
There are so many layers to unpeel here. First of all, a Hooters restaurant? Really? Have they actually met me? And second of all, the Hooters Restaurant in Chattanooga, Tennessee? I have been in Tennessee twice on my life--once on a quick overnight visit to Nashville, and the other a three-day stay in Memphis. I have never once been to Chattanooga. I have no real desire to to go to Chattanooga. And I certainly have NO interesting in popping into the Hooters in Chattanooga, or, more to Facebook's point, following them on social media.
What the what, Facebook?
When I showed the recommendation to Loraine, she (someone who actually knows me) laughed out loud. She also brought up an interesting point, not really related to Facebook's recommendation, but interesting nonetheless--Tennessee's one of the states trying to ban drag shows, but they're okay with a Hooters in Chattanooga?
But like I said, that was just a tangential point. The real interesting thing is why Facebook thought I would like to follow the Hooters Restaurant in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the first place. I was almost tempted to share the recommendation and to make a joke about it, but I stopped before I did. Why, you ask? Well, I answer, if I DID mention the Hooters in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Facebook might actually think I have an interest in it, and start deluging me with other "suggested likes" that would be just as, if not more strange, than the original.
And I'm not sure I could handle that.
So thanks for the recommendation, Facebook, but no thanks. I'm sure the Hooters in Chattanooga, Tennessee has plenty of fans. Just don't count me among them.
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